First of all let me wish everybody a happy new year! I've been lurking on the forum again, though not very vocal. It has now been a year since Malaak went on hiatus, and I wanted to say a few words about that. Not that I feel I have to justify it, but I miss the conversation, and making comics. The original reason I took a break was of course the fact I moved continents on short notice and it took months of scrambling to fully land on my feet. I've only been in a place of my own where I can work properly since October. I don't have a fixed job, I live off my calligraphy in various ways and so far I'm managing. Now that I'm scrambling no more, I'm thinking of Malaak all the time, and pushing it out of my mind again because it's just too difficult. Those of you who read it know how much the comic is about Lebanon and its struggles, and the hope for a future without conflict. Well in the past year the country has slipped back into the early stages of civil war and is currently collapsing in on itself. It's like watching a train crash in slow motion. I really believe it will cease existing as a country within a very few years.Let's just say it's doing my head in.And this bundle of dark feelings punches me in the gut every time I think of getting back to work on Malaak. It's an unusual situation for a comic artist, I suppose, and a dilemma, but maybe in 2014 I'll figure out a way to work around it...

You're in a specifically strange situation that none of us can really relate to. I wish you, and everyone involved in trying to maintain and secure a lasting peace for both Lebanon and any other struggling nation in that part of the world, all the best.

Remember when your imagination was real? When the day seemedlonger than it was, and tomorrow was always another game away?

That is a rather sad state of affairs, and I can see how it would affect the theme of your work just because it seems that hope can no longer be applied to the nation. It would truly be painful to even attempt, so it makes sense how you are reacting.

I hope it doesn't end up being so dire - that some sense can be found and they can once again head on the right track.

Good luck to you in whatever endeavor your heart and soul take you. Should that be Malaak, I will be here waiting for it with open arms.

Lebanon and suffered so much for so long. I cannot fathom what it must be like. You have my thoughts, prayers, and respect. Writing Malaak might be therapeutic. It's a vision of Lebanon that lifts the heart and gives promise of what could be and hopefully one day will be.

I love your work and, like Tigershark, I'll be waiting for you to return to it. If your path leads in other directions, I'll be eager to see what you do there as well.

Thanks everyone. I don't have my hopes up for the country – don't want to bum you with all that's happening there – but there's still hope for the story.In case you wonder, this is the kind of thing I'm investing all of my time into at the moment.